Verus Capital Partners LLC Sells 188 Shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)

Verus Capital Partners LLC reduced its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,143 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 188 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Bristol-Myers Squibb were worth $347,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB raised its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,139,552 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $162,440,000 after buying an additional 28,427 shares during the last quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC now owns 11,108 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $575,000 after buying an additional 886 shares during the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management raised its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 17,811 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $922,000 after buying an additional 1,228 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bristol-Myers Squibb in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR raised its position in Bristol-Myers Squibb by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 155,309 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,036,000 after buying an additional 1,477 shares during the last quarter. 76.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Samit Hirawat bought 1,823 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $54.84 per share, for a total transaction of $99,973.32. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 63,932 shares in the company, valued at $3,506,030.88. This trade represents a 2.94 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Stock Up 1.5 %

BMY stock opened at $59.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.25. The company has a market capitalization of $121.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.51, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.45. Bristol-Myers Squibb has a fifty-two week low of $39.35 and a fifty-two week high of $61.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $57.15 and a 200-day moving average of $54.74.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.20. Bristol-Myers Squibb had a positive return on equity of 13.93% and a negative net margin of 18.53%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Bristol-Myers Squibb will post 6.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.15%. This is an increase from Bristol-Myers Squibb’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Bristol-Myers Squibb’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -56.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on BMY. Daiwa America raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Bristol-Myers Squibb in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Bristol-Myers Squibb from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised Bristol-Myers Squibb from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $55.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bristol-Myers Squibb presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.86.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company Profile

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company discovers, develops, licenses, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers products for hematology, oncology, cardiovascular, immunology, fibrotic, and neuroscience diseases. The company's products include Eliquis for reduction in risk of stroke/systemic embolism in non-valvular atrial fibrillation, and for the treatment of DVT/PE; Opdivo for various anti-cancer indications, including bladder, blood, CRC, head and neck, RCC, HCC, lung, melanoma, MPM, stomach and esophageal cancer; Pomalyst/Imnovid for multiple myeloma; Orencia for active rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis; and Sprycel for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia.